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Saturday, April 11, 2009

Alive and Well

As I have written, a good indicator of my current mood is the amount of postings that I have during a set period of time. Sort of..... I am most prolific if I am running a little hot --- or in bipolar speak, when I am hypomanic. I will be the angriest then and chomping at the bit to launch a crusade against this, that, or the other. If I reach a tipping point, full blown mania may occur. Then, I'd need an intervention.

My lack of posts may show that I am either depressed or operating somewhere between depression and hypomania. Therefore, it is difficult to determine just where I am on the bipolar coaster ride when I fail to post anything new. Be assured that I have not plunged into any deep depressions since the deaths of my father and oldest brother.

I am, as they say, alive and well. I am enjoying life in a little Mexican town called Ajijic (a - he - hek with the long e sound of Standard American English). I have adopted some routines and mostly reject anything that pins me down to dates and times. I do not want to be depended upon nor expected to do anything..... nada, nunca, zip, zero, nothing.....

Except....... I am now teaching. Fortunately, I have only one student that I see twice a week for an hour each visit. My student is our 18 year old housekeeper. She is extremely bright and has ambitions beyond cleaning houses (which pays better than most other jobs). We are working on the basics of American English and the phrases and vocabulary used in retail. We recently reached the full year mark of her employment with us and she asked me then to teach her English.

In retrospect, I was probably hypomanic for the majority of my life. I actually can remember some of the times in my youth and old aging when a particular trigger sent me into a depression. Those events are always associated with my abandonment of some project, friendship, membership in some organization, or other "important" thing. My "refusal" to complete a highschool science project, quitting the Civil Air Patrol, and many other "events" come to mind. My periods of depression varied in length and would always "end" as I found something to occupy my time and mind.

Right now, as always, maintaining a "level" mood is challenging. Living in Mexico certainly helps. Eliminating all of the crap that triggers a mood swing is nearly impossible. I am working on it......

The photo above is of an unkown bush in our front garden. I'll look it up in a field guide sometime and find out it's name. Right now, I am content to enjoy its beauty. Gaaawwwds, I love living in Mexico..

From Abraham Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address:

With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation's wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan--to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves, and with all nations.